US Cars

1931 The Long Wheelbase Duesenberg2011 SOLD 10.3 M$ including premium

Captain Whittell was an exuberant American who had preserved his immense fortune by selling his shares just a few days before the financial crash of 1929. Such a character would have some Duesenbergs: he owned no less than six model J's.

At that time, customers bought the chassis and selected the body shop. The choice was great, which gives an infinite variety to Duesenberg vehicles.

The high end was the lengthened Model J chassis (long wheelbase). This huge machine 3.90 m long exceeded by 30 cm the standard (short wheelbase) Model J.

Whittell bought a long wheelbase in 1931 and made it equipped as a coupe by the stylist Franklin Hershey. The result is a surprising example of American Art Deco, including a folding roof that makes this car look like a convertible. The general shape is aerodynamic, anticipating the trend of the automotive design of the later 1930s.

It comes in the sale held in Pebble Beach on 20 and 21 August by Gooding. Totaling less than 20,000 km, it is in perfect working order.

POST SALE COMMENT

Sold $ 10.3 million including premium, this car has certainly exceeded the most optimistic hopes. The press release issued before sale had been particularly enthusiastic.

1935 The Culmination of Duesenberg2013 SOLD 4.5 M$ including premium

Both from a technical and aesthetic point of view, cars are constantly changing throughout the 1930s. A brand that targets the absolute upscale must evolve its models continuously.

J. Herbert Newport is entrusted by Duesenberg to fit a modernized body on the model J chassis. His masterpiece is a convertible coupe with the top of the doors in alignment with the front and back covers.

Three cars were coachworked on this model by a workshop of Indianapolis, AH Walker Body Company, which seems to have worked primarily, or even exclusively, for the Cord group during its short period of activity. Walker was one of the craftsmen to whom Cord attributed the LaGrande label as a mark for their bodywork.

One of these three cars was mounted on the Duesenberg SJ variant with a supercharged engine. This specimen made ​​in 1935 is thus representing the culmination of this prestigious brand. This car is estimated $ 3.5M, for sale on March 9 in Amelia Island byRM Auctions. Here is the link to the release shared by Sports Car Digest.

This unique Duesenberg SJ Walker-LaGrande convertible coupe must be placed in its historical chronology.

Duesenberg soon loses the game, not because of the design but by failing to change in due time the specifications of the chassis.

The market is caught by Mercedes-Benz with their new model 540K, offering of course a wide range of bodies. The masterpiece of Hermann Ahrens, the 540K Spezial Roadster, has the same styling as the Walker-LaGrande convertible coupe.

Which one had imitated the other? Note that the 540K Spezial Roadster of the Baroness von Krieger, sold for $ 11.8 million including premium by Gooding in August 2012, is dated 1936, one year after the Duesenberg Walker-LaGrande.

POST SALE COMMENT

This car is one of the most outstanding in the history of Duesenberg. It was sold for $ 4.1 million hammer price, 4.5 million including the 10% premium.

A few months later, there is an extreme urgencyat the 20th CenturyFox!Batmanhasan immediate need fora carworthy of hisextravagancefor the television seriesin preparation.TheFuturaispainted in blackwith horizontal psychedelic lines that symbolizeaudacityand speed.Thus was born theBatmobile.

This firstBatmobilewas retainedbyBarris.Itisnow coming to auction atBarrett-Jackson in Scottsdale on January 19.

It was a great time in the auction week of Arizona. In the presence of George Barris, the Batmobile was sold $ 4.2 million before fees, $ 4.62 million including premium. The specialized press was waiting for a price at such a level.

This is an outstanding result for a car designed exclusively for cinema or television. It equals James Bond's Aston Martin, sold £ 2.9 million including premium by RM Auctions on October 27, 2010.

​1962 The Heritage of Carroll Shelby​2016 SOLD for $ 13.7M including premium

Carroll Shelby wisely stops competition for health reasons in 1960. He can now focus on a visionary project : to create a car that will be capable of defeating the Europeans. He will succeed where the major American brands had failed.

The basic idea of ​​Shelby was simple : assemble a powerful engine on a small chassis. The difficulty of reaching the suitable stability needed all the experience of a champion. Going small had also ensured the success of Porsche.

Shelby is not yet an entrepreneur. He looks worldwide for the chassis and the engine that will best meet his request.

In England, the small AC Cars company is facing a major issue : the engine used on their AC Ace chassis is no longer manufactured. Shelby's project comes at the right time to start a cooperation. Ford is working at the same time on the development of lightweight engines. Shelby borrows an AC chassis and has a V-8 engine 221 cubic inches assembled by Ford in Dearborn. The feasibility is assured.

Shelby must now work out the technical details. He requires the modifications to the AC chassis that will generate the AC Cobra, and chooses a Ford V-8 260 cubic inches engine (4.2 liters). The prototype is assembled in February 1962 in California by Shelby helped by Dean Moon.

This prototype named CSX 2000 from its chassis number enters the legend. It serves both the technical development and the marketing. Shelby does not have the financial means to assemble other cars : his unique prototype is painted in a different color for each presentation to the specialized press in order to suggest that a production line is already operational. The performance of the CSX 2000 pleases Ford. What will follow is a remarkable American success story.

Carroll Shelby had kept the CSX 2000. It is intact and retains traces of the tools from the settings by Shelby and Moon. A friend of Rob Myers, Shelby had required that the CSX 2000 is auctioned by RM after his death. It is offered by RM Sotheby's in Monterey on August 19, lot 117. The estimate of the "most important American sports car in history" is not published.

1964 Ford GT40, the Birth of a Legend2014 SOLD 7 M$ before fees

The fourth prototype of the Ford GT40 was sold for $ 4.95 million including premium by Gooding on August 19, 2012. It now comes in another auction house. Here is my previous text, now with the information of the next sale and some additional historical information. At the command of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford II (HF2) is a busy man who does not like his competitors and will not be contradicted. 1964 is a key year for both road and race.

The Ford Mustang is developed by Lee Iacocca. Its innovative design will push the Ford brand on a par with General Motors which previously dominated this market.

They must also win endurance races. The failure of negotiations in 1963 to purchase Ferrari, yet in financial difficulties, made HF2 enrage. He defines a new target: Ford must win the 24 hours race of Le Mans in 1964 with a model capable of reaching 320 km/h in the Hunaudières Straight. This will be the Ford GT40.

In April 1964, the testing at Le Mans was a disaster. The new model, whose aerodynamic characteristics were poorly designed, flew over at top speed. Their two cars crashed.

The Ford team can not rest on this failure, although it is now accepted that it is not ready for the first victories. There are only two months left to change the bodywork. The engineers meet this challenge: three Ford GT40 participate at the 24 Heures in June 1964. The spectacular start of the race shows that this model will ably compete with Ferrari. HF2 did not win, but he has not lost either. The car for sale by Mecum in Houston on April 12, lot S147.1 in the catalog, is the first lightweight steel prototype and also one of the three GT40 of the June 1964 race.

After a new phase of improvements assisted by computer, which was a novelty at that time for racing cars, it was also the first GT40 to achieve a podium position when it finished at third place at the 2000 Km of Daytona in February 1965.POST SALE COMMENT

The interest of the collectors in the GT40 increased sharply in recent years. This remarkable prototype deserves its new price, $ 7M before fees.

1965 Shelby competing with Ferrari2009 SOLD 7.7 M$ including premium

After leaving the competition in 1960, the driver Carroll Shelby began building cars. His ambition was to compete with Ferrari, no less! He managed the development of its models by fitting British AC Cobra chassis with Ford engines.

Ford offered a particularly favorable context to second Shelby's project: the Mustang, created in 1964, needed to increase its dominance and its market share against Chevrolet and Plymouth.

Only six copies of the 1965 Daytona Cobra Coupe were built. This model is the most prestigious of Shelby. One of them came in an auction organized by Mecum on May 15 in Indianapolis.

A new press release indicates that this car has not been sold, but that an after-sale offer was made at $ 7.5 million. It was not enough. On the occasion of the very large sessions of auctions of mid-August, Mecum presents this vehicle again, on August 15 in Monterey.

POST SALE COMMENT

This morning, the auction house is rightly proud to announce that their Cobra broke the auction record for an American car: $ 7.25 million. Releases prior to the sale had correctly shown that this was an exceptional lot.

This price does not include fees. This would be consistent with the information that I indicated in my article saying that a proposal to $ 7.5 million had been refused.

1965 The GT40 Roadster2014 SOLD 7 M$ including premium

The GT40 model is the challenge by Ford to Ferrari. The American brand had selected the British teams of Lola to execute the development, but Ford was not an easy patron. As early as 1965, engineers left the project and Ford created the Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) factory in the vicinity of its former subcontractors.

One of the debated issues had been the desire of Ford to also produce the GT40 for the road, while Lola would have preferred a model exclusively devoted to racing.

Most GT40s are coupes with a closed top. However, one of the first achievements by FAV is a prototype presented as an open-top roadster. Overall, only six GT40 roadsters will be produced.

This very elegant Ford was first used as a demonstrator for Ford and Shelby. Remaining in its original configuration, it is the only one to have retained the shape of nose and tail slightly modified by Ford for its roadsters, which now gives it the qualities of a unique piece.

The GT40 roadster is estimated $ 8M for sale by RM Auctions at Monterey on August 15, lot 134.

1965 A Super Snake for the Street2007 SOLD for $ 5.5M including premium by Barrett-Jackson2015 SOLD for $ 5.1M including premium

PRE 2015 SALE DISCUSSION

The assembly of a Ford engine and gearbox on a chassis built in England by AC Cars was the winning formula operated by Carroll Shelby to achieve supremacy in motor racing. A Shelby Daytona coupe made in 1965 was sold for $ 7.7 million including premium by Mecum on August 15, 2009.

In 1965 Shelby releases the Cobra 427 roadster of which 23 units will be configured for competition. 427 is the volume in cubic inches of its Ford engine, 7 liters in the international system. Just as Competizione in the Ferrari wording at the same time, the Shelby competition cars are not equipped in accessories unwanted for racing such as windshield, fender and muffler and are not approved for the road.

One of these 23 cars, finished as a competition roadster in September 1965, had a different fate. After a promotional tour of Europe that lasted more than a year, it returned to the United States where it was transformed into a semi-competition version (SC), reaching the high end of the Shelby cars for street use.

This specific car is indeed a hybrid because it retained some of its competition features for the personal use and curiosity of Carroll Shelby who wanted to push it to the top possible performance on the road.

This Shelby Cobra in Super Snake style has retained its original equipment including the engine block. It was sold for $ 5.5M including premium by Barrett-Jackson on January 21, 2007. It is for sale in Scottsdale on January 17 by the same auction house, lot 2509.

The Cobra 427 Super Snake is of the highest rarity. The only other car made in this configuration had got the opposite transformation : it was a street car changed to please a showbiz celebrity who ultimately did not want it. It was accidentally destroyed by falling off a cliff.

​1966 Promotion for the GT40​2016 SOLD for $ 4.4M before fees

Ford's target in launching the GT40 in 1964 was to dominate Ferrari in racing. The new Ford is splendid and effective and the result is satisfactory.

The GT40 is designed and manufactured in England by Ford Advanced Vehicles, integrating US engines. In 1966, while a new version MK II is developed for competition, the original variant MK I is converted for the road.

Ford hopes that the commercial success of this vehicle will be at the level of its performance and the arrival from UK in the USA of a first demonstration car in the road legal version is eagerly awaited. Its promotional tour is extensive with a culmination at Sebring where it makes the parade throughout the weekend of the event. Four pages are devoted to it in Playboy magazine in July 1966.

This specific car appeals the customer with an additional care provided to comfort, including air conditioning, layout of luggage and increased use of leather.

It traveled less than 18,000 km from new, significantly for its promotional activities. When it was to restore it the experts were astonished by its authentic condition. This restoration that just ended had lasted four years and the car was established in the most detailed configuration from its glorious exhibition at Sebring half a century earlier.

This historically important example of one of the most elegant road cars of the twentieth century is estimated $ 4M for sale by Mecum in Monterey on August 20, lot S103.

1967 A Ford behind Steve McQueen2012 SOLD 11 M$ including premium

There were only 133 copies of Ford GT40, including all body variants. Fans of this legendary model are delighted: some exceptional cars are presented in three auctions to be held next month in California.

The model was developed in the United States but the cars were manufactured by an English department of Ford called Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV). When Ford left the series in 1967, the former head of FAV tried to continue the operation by creating John Wyer Automotive (JWA).

One of these GT40, for sale by RM Auctions in Monterey onAugust 17, is related to this last phase of the model.

It successfully started its career by winning at Spa in May 1967 in a Mirage M configuration. Due to one of these changes in race regulations which we so often discuss in this group, it was rebuilt in the following year by Wyer under a configuration identified as 1968 Ford GT40 Gulf / Mirage Lightweight Racing Car.

It is one of two survivors from three lightweight GT40, and one of the earliest racing cars to use carbon fiber.

It then went to the movies industry, but not in the star role which its supreme elegance would have earned. In 1970, its roof was cut to allow the use of a 35mm camera by an operator on the passenger seat, and it was launched in the pursuit of the Porsche 917 of Steve McQueen as a camera car for the preparation of the film Le Mans.